Rare lunar eclipse amuses spectators

A total lunar eclipse happened on Wednesday night, when the moon passed through center of Earth’s shadow as the moon, Earth and sun align. The smaller sphere remained absolutely in the dark for 120 minutes.

The celestial show was visible completely over Africa, and Central Asia. People in Europe, Australia, South America and eastern part of Asia were able to watch only part of the eclipse during moonrise and set.“Such long lunar eclipses are quite rare. Usually they last for 20 to 25 minutes,” said a spokesman for the Pulkovo Observatory near St. Petersburg, Sergey Smirnov.The previous total lunar eclipse happened in July 2000 with the total phase lasting for 107 minutes. The next total lunar eclipse will be in December this year and will last for 51 minutes.